


The Mutual Favour

by BarPurple



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: A Monthly Rumbelling, F/M, Pre-Relationship, Remix, Spiders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-07 22:11:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13444455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: The town landlord and librarian have a particular fear in common.





	The Mutual Favour

**Author's Note:**

  * For [beastlycheese](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beastlycheese/gifts).



> beastlycheese read The Favour and asked:  
> Although I love Belle being the saviour in this one for a change, I can’t help wondering what would have happened if they were both afraid and had to cower and cuddle together.  
> And this fic happened.

“Okay, we can do this.”

Miss French’s hand grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away from the door handle.

“No! It’s still out there.”

Gold took a deep breath; “Yes. I know, but we can’t stay in this cupboard. It’s only a … a … well a …”

“Gold, there is a bloody great spider hanging from the ceiling out there.”

Gold shuddered; “Yes I know that, but we can’t stay in here.”

— Half and hour ago —

Gold strolled into the library. It was the second of the month, the day after Rent Day in Storybrooke and the day he reserved for his recreational visit to the library. Miss French was a tenant of the town council, so any problems she had with the first of the month were focused on Regina. It made a pleasant change for Gold to be a sympathetic ear about the problems of dealing with a landlord, and any issues Miss French had with Mayor Mills he could help with in an impartial manner. He maybe on the town council, but it was his job as a prominent citizen to ensure that the town worked smoothly, and since the library was part of the heart of the town it was common sense that he paid attention to the needs of the librarian.

And in the depths of his blacken heart he would admit that the smiles and conversation of Miss Belle French were an addiction that he would never give up, unless the lady herself stopped speaking to him. The day that happened, (and he was fully expecting it in the near future), if he even got the slightest hint from her body language, or words that she was no longer comfortable with his presence, he would bow out of her life and lock himself in his house, so she never had to worry about bumping into him around town ever again. He was sure that day was coming soon, he was the town Beast, and no one tolerated him for long, but for now he got to return the welcoming smile that Miss French graced him with.

“Mr Gold. Have you finished those already?”

He placed the books he was returning on the counter; “I have Miss French. You were right I couldn’t put them down. You are once again responsible for several late nights. Please tell me you have the next instalments?”

The librarian bit her bottom lip; “Well, I can loan you book three, but I’m afraid that book four is already checked out.”

He gave a dramatic gasp and clutched his chest with the hand that wasn’t gripping his cane.

“Are you telling me that you have been recommending these books to another library patron?”

His heart flipped in his chest as she fixed him with a stern look that was as affected as his dramatic gasp; “Well of course I have, that is my job after all Mr Gold, but rest assured that Henry Mills reads just as quickly as you do, so you won’t be waiting long for the next book.”

He bowed his head, but let her see his smile; “I won’t stand in the way of encouraging young readers, and he clearly has good taste in books, which we both have you to thank for Miss French.”

They shared a soft chuckled for a moment before she bit her lip and became serious; “Mr Gold, before I check your books out, may I pick your brain, your landlord brain to be specific.”

Gold straightened up and nodded; “Of course, what do you need?”

“Just a second.”

She darted around the circulation desk and checked that the library was empty before locking the door.

“It’s my lunch break, so if I lock up I don’t have to feel bad about leaving the desk unattended.”

He would never fault her dedication to the library, what Storybrooke had done to deserve this wonderful public servant he would never know. She beckoned him deeper into the library and he happily followed.

“Now Mayor Mills has said that these are just discoloured ceiling tiles, but I am worried that it might be the sign of a leak, what do you think?”

Gold looked up at the ceiling in the corridor that led to the office and stock rooms, and froze in his tracks. Across the narrow gap between the two walls there was a huge web with a massive spider sat in the middle. Miss French followed his panicked gaze and swore loudly and fluently. She grabbed his hand and dragged him into the janitor’s closet.

Which is how the town landlord and the town librarian, both rather small people, ended up in a closet that was only designed for one medium sized person, and was already full of a wide variety of cleaning materials.

-o0o-

Gold tried to reach for the door handle again. He really didn’t want to go out there any more than Miss French did, but they couldn’t stay in this closet for much longer. Oh, he could, he could stay here until the sun burned out; clinging to Belle as they hid from their shared fear lucking outside the door, but any minute now other instincts as base as his fears were going to cause a reaction other than trembling and would shame him. 

“We have to go out there.”

Belle gripped his wrist tighter and pressed closer to him; “But the spider.”

In the dim light her eyes were bright points, and they were full of fear. He was scared of spiders, but she was terrified. He had to be brave for both of them. Gods how he wished Dove was here; his righthand man didn’t flinch in the face of an arachnid, and could summon a strong cuppa out of thin air to calm the nerves. Wishing would get him nowhere, he had to step up and come up with a plan.

“Okay Belle. We know where the thing is?”

“Yes.”

“Right so if we open this door and move to our left then we will be going away from the thing?”

He heard Belle clucked her tongue as she considered; “Yes, but we’ll have to shove the door all the way out, so it doesn’t get in our way.”

“Okay, we have a plan, are you ready?”

“Erm. Yes?”

Neither of them were ready, but they slammed open the closet door and ran twelve feet up the corridor before they fell over in a tangle of high heels and cane.

Belle lay panting on the floor next to him. He turned his head and asked; “Are you alright?”

Belle propped herself up on her elbows and grinned at him; “Yeah. Y’know. Okay ish,” – she froze -, “Is it still there?”

Gold inched his head up from the floor and squinted down the corridor; “Yep, but it really doesn’t look so big from here.”

He dropped his head back to the floor and started laughing. Belle draped and arm over his chest and joined him in giggling at their predicament. It felt perfectly natural to wrap his arm around her shoulder. Had he pulled her into him, or had she moved on her own? He wasn’t sure. As she shifted so she was leaning against his chest he was certain he stopped breathing.

“How about we don’t tell anyone about this?”

Gold swallowed and nodded slowly; “Of course Miss French.”

He stopped speaking when she pressed a single finger against his lips; “Belle, I want you to call me Belle. And I won’t tell anyone about the spider if you won’t.”

“I swear Belle, no one will hear of this from me,” – he closed his eyes and said, - “Rufus. That’s my name, my first name, if you’d like to use it.”

“Rufus.”

His eyes slammed open and there was Belle, a scant few inches from his face, smiling at him after saying his name.

-o0o-

The spider on its web observed the first kiss of Belle French and Rufus Gold. It had dismantled its silken home and vanished to parts unknown by the time Dove arrived to clean away the cobweb. Dove was not perturbed about not having anything to clean, he was far too busy smiling that his boss and the librarian had finally seen sense and gone out on a date.


End file.
